RE: (313) Philip Glass
ditto on The Hours, great stuff... I best like him when he collaborates with
world musicians, such ason Passages with Ravi Shankar and the amazingly
beautiful Aguas de amazonia with Uakti, Brazilian guys making instruments
with water and tubes...
would also recommend his stuff for solo piano, the Metamorphosis series, as
well as his Akhnaten opera, I only know a couple of the tracks from it (from a
comp) but they're beautiful...
and I would steer clear from the Music in 12 parts, never been able to endure
more than a couple of minutes of it ; and also the weak Bowie-inspired Berlin
Trilogy...
another thing : some of the works quoted below are soundtracks to experimental
movies, has anyone seen them ? worth hunting down the DVDs ?
Gwendal
-Original Message-
From: Garrett McGrath [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 12:18 PM
To: Cyclone Wehner
Cc: 313@hyperreal.org
Subject: Re: (313) Philip Glass
key works, imo, would be Glassworks, Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack, A
Descent into the Maelström, Solo Piano ('89), Einstein on the Beach,
Symphony No. 2 and 3, and The Hours soundtrack. Naqoyqatsi is also
quite good. he's done a number of soundtracks; i listen to The Hours
pretty regularly. it's become one of my favorite pieces of music.
RE: (313) Philip Glass
In my opinion Philip Glass's work began to go downhill as he got
progressively more famous, I'm not exactly sure why. It would probably
be an enjoyable experience to see that opera though.
My favorite music from him is the stuff recorded in the 70s, with his
first opera, Einstein on the Beach, being a true minimalist masterpiece
in my opinion. Some of his later stuff is sometimes good, but pretty
hit or miss, and not always the best use of synthesizers IMO. Sometimes
I actually think he starts to sound like a watered down parody of
himself actually. He seems to have tried to make a compromise between
minimalism and more traditional music, and make his music more
accessible to the masses. Minimalism Lite (TM). Whereas the really
good 70s stuff just has these sort of walls of sound that go on and on,
really slowly evolving, and you start to hear all these really crazy
harmonics and sounds within the texture. Something many list members
could probably appreciate.
_Dave
-Original Message-
From: Garrett McGrath [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 5:18 AM
To: Cyclone Wehner
Cc: 313@hyperreal.org
Subject: Re: (313) Philip Glass
he's done 13 full operas and 5 chamber operas. it's what he did most
throughout the '90's. Einstein On The Beach might be the most famous.
ironically it was his first, i think. it contains a lot of intricate
voices-as-instrumentation stuff.
in the 60's he (arguably) invented minimalism as it pertains to
classical, while living in nyc and steadily writing arranging new
pieces involving intricately staggered, repetitive vocals and/or
minimal orchestration. after living in paris for a couple years,
transcribing Ravi Shankar and studying a lot of indian/african music,
he came back to new york and eventually turned out Music In 12 Parts.
Einstein was soon thereafter.
key works, imo, would be Glassworks, Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack, A
Descent into the Maelström, Solo Piano ('89), Einstein on the Beach,
Symphony No. 2 and 3, and The Hours soundtrack. Naqoyqatsi is also
quite good. he's done a number of soundtracks; i listen to The Hours
pretty regularly. it's become one of my favorite pieces of music.
all kinds of info at philipglass.com, of course. an extremely
interesting artist that you should find out about if you have the
inclination. i'm guessing that if Dennis Desantis or others get hold
of this thread they can tell you much more... for sure he can tell you
more about others like Steve Reich and Gavin Bryars.
On Sunday, August 17, 2003, at 01:22 AM, Cyclone Wehner wrote:
I have never been a huge follower of Philip Glass (never got that
far!) but
he gets mentioned often in relation to 313 music. I didn't realise he
composed opera until I saw something in the program of the Melbourne
International Arts Fest - an opera Akhnaten inspired by the
'forgotten'
Pharaoh (fans of Egptology will know his significance) with elements
of
dance. It's performed by the State Opera of South Australia. I guess I
am
not a huge opera fan - I only like it if it's being deployed by the
Wu-Tang
or someone as a texture in epic bangin' hip-hop but I may go as it
sounds
interesting.
Anyone able to give a rundown of key Glass works?
Re: (313) Philip Glass
Anyone able to give a rundown of key Glass works? In addition to previously mentioned works: One of my favorite's is his soundtrack to Paul Schrader's film Mishima. Kronos Quartet is in on this one. Also his score for The Thin Blue Line is great. Of course they should first be heard while watching the films. MEK
(313) Philip Glass
I have never been a huge follower of Philip Glass (never got that far!) but he gets mentioned often in relation to 313 music. I didn't realise he composed opera until I saw something in the program of the Melbourne International Arts Fest - an opera Akhnaten inspired by the 'forgotten' Pharaoh (fans of Egptology will know his significance) with elements of dance. It's performed by the State Opera of South Australia. I guess I am not a huge opera fan - I only like it if it's being deployed by the Wu-Tang or someone as a texture in epic bangin' hip-hop but I may go as it sounds interesting. Anyone able to give a rundown of key Glass works?
Re: (313) Philip Glass
he's done 13 full operas and 5 chamber operas. it's what he did most
throughout the '90's. Einstein On The Beach might be the most famous.
ironically it was his first, i think. it contains a lot of intricate
voices-as-instrumentation stuff.
in the 60's he (arguably) invented minimalism as it pertains to
classical, while living in nyc and steadily writing arranging new
pieces involving intricately staggered, repetitive vocals and/or
minimal orchestration. after living in paris for a couple years,
transcribing Ravi Shankar and studying a lot of indian/african music,
he came back to new york and eventually turned out Music In 12 Parts.
Einstein was soon thereafter.
key works, imo, would be Glassworks, Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack, A
Descent into the Maelström, Solo Piano ('89), Einstein on the Beach,
Symphony No. 2 and 3, and The Hours soundtrack. Naqoyqatsi is also
quite good. he's done a number of soundtracks; i listen to The Hours
pretty regularly. it's become one of my favorite pieces of music.
all kinds of info at philipglass.com, of course. an extremely
interesting artist that you should find out about if you have the
inclination. i'm guessing that if Dennis Desantis or others get hold
of this thread they can tell you much more... for sure he can tell you
more about others like Steve Reich and Gavin Bryars.
On Sunday, August 17, 2003, at 01:22 AM, Cyclone Wehner wrote:
I have never been a huge follower of Philip Glass (never got that
far!) but
he gets mentioned often in relation to 313 music. I didn't realise he
composed opera until I saw something in the program of the Melbourne
International Arts Fest - an opera Akhnaten inspired by the 'forgotten'
Pharaoh (fans of Egptology will know his significance) with elements of
dance. It's performed by the State Opera of South Australia. I guess I
am
not a huge opera fan - I only like it if it's being deployed by the
Wu-Tang
or someone as a texture in epic bangin' hip-hop but I may go as it
sounds
interesting.
Anyone able to give a rundown of key Glass works?
Re: (313) Philip Glass
Anyone able to give a rundown of key Glass works? Not a rundown, but here's something with usually falls through the cracks : Polyrock, his minimal rock project which sounded vaguely Talking Heads-ish (must have been very early 80s). I saw him in Ann Arbor about 8 years ago (performing the soundtrack for The Beauty and the Beast) and got to talk with him briefly; when I asked him if he had considered re-releasing the project, he came quite animated and enthusiastic about it. It was slightly funny; he had a gathering of sycophants who (by their facial responses) had initially regarded my question as some kind of faux pas and were surprised when he wanted to talk about it. Phillip seems to be about the music; his ears are open no matter the style. jeff
